From Russia with Love (1963)

James Bond willingly falls into an assassination ploy involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by SPECTRE.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Johanna Harwood (adaptation),

Stars:

Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Lotte Lenya

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Daniela Bianchi	...	Tatiana Romanova
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Kerim Bey (as Pedro Armendariz)
Lotte Lenya	...	Rosa Klebb
Robert Shaw	...	Grant
Bernard Lee	...	M
Eunice Gayson	...	Sylvia Trench
Walter Gotell	...	Morzeny
Francis De Wolff	...	Vavra (as Francis de Wolff)
George Pastell	...	Train Conductor
Nadja Regin	...	Kerim's Girl
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Aliza Gur	...	Vida
Martine Beswick	...	Zora (as Martin Beswick)
Vladek Sheybal	...	Kronsteen

Storyline

James Bond 007 is on the search for a Russian decoding machine, known as Lektor. Bond needs to find this machine, before the evil SPECTRE organization discovers it first. Whilst being romantically linked with Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, Bond sneaks his way around Istanbul, whilst each SPECTRE agent tries to pick him off, including the over powering Donald 'Red' Grant and ex-KGB agent Rosa Klebb who knows all the tricks in the books and even possesses an incredible poison tipped shoe!

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Plot Keywords:

spectre | russian | decoder | kgb | british secret service | 

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Taglines:

Meet James Bond, secret agent 007. His new incredible women... His new incredible enemies... His new incredible adventures...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian Turkish Romany

Release Date:

27 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bons baisers de Russie

Filming Locations:

"The Canals", Venice, Veneto, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$24,800,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions, Danjaq

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (as Colour by) (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vehicles featured included The Orient Express Train; SPECTRE's two-seater Hiller UH-12C helicopter; a yellow C30 1961 Chevrolet flatbed delivery truck; a 1960 Ford Fordor Ranch Wagon; a Venetian water taxi gondola; a Fairey Huntress 23 speed boat being pursued by two Huntsman 28 and two Huntress speedboats. In Istanbul, Bond is pursued by a black Citroën Traction Avant and chauffeured by a black Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Phantom V. Bond owns a Bentley automobile as was the case in the original Ian Fleming novels. Here it is a green-black Derby Bentley Mark IV ½ Liter Sports Tourer drophead coupé convertible with MTS radio car-telephone, a uncommon toy for 1963 and only new to Britain at the time of the film. Bond never has a Bentley car again in a Bond film except for Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again.

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Goofs

The words used for "pull" and "push" signs on the doors at the Russian consulate are literal translations of the corresponding English verbs ("dergat" and "pikhat"). First, it's not what is customarily written on the doors in Russia ("to" and "fro" are used), and second, the colloquial forms of verbs are used, not the written forms.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Morzeny: [after Grant kills a look-a-like Bond] Exactly one minute, fifty-two seconds. That's excellent.

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Crazy Credits

"THE END" "NOT QUITE THE END" JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN THE NEXT IAN FLEMING THRILLER "GOLDFINGER"

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Connections

Referenced in Undercover Blues (1993)

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Soundtracks

"From Russia With Love"
Title song written by Lionel Bart
Sung by Matt Monro
Music Conducted by Johnnie Spence

User Reviews

Better than Fleming's Novel!

Hard to believe, but the movie is actually an improvement on Fleming's novel. Rather than have the Lektor operation be a simple Russian scheme to discredit Bond as Fleming did, SPECTRE takes a hand here in their first on-screen appearance as an organization. The plot is improved considerably because of this. The movie thrives on its supporting actors and Sheybal. Connery is somewhat outshone by these greater lights, but gives a credible performance. From Russia... is a different pace of movie: no one here is intent on wiping out the world's population, or destroying the gold supply, or stealing submarines. Basically, it's a quiet little plot focusing on an elaborate "sting" operation. Until the end, the pace is kind of slow, and might lose more "modern" audiences, particularly those used to incredible stunt sequences every 20 minutes.